Wednesday, April 9, 2014

Online Pharmacies In India Under Scrutiny

Online pharmacies in India are operating in an
unregulated
manner for long. This has created a serious risk
environment for many individuals who prefer to purchase a medicine
from an online pharmacy. There is nothing wrong in purchasing a
medicine from an online pharmacy provided the pharmacy is legitimate
and is in compliance with all the applicable laws pertaining to
healthcare.

Internet is full of illegal and unregulated online
pharmacy websites. These websites are real health hazard but these
websites are also very difficult to regulate as they operate from
jurisdictions with low prosecution rates. India is one such
jurisdiction that is high on tolerance of illegal online pharmacies.
Healthcare technology law and regulations in India need to be
strictly
enforced in India.

In India we have set
laws for opening an online pharmacy store in India. Even
the Ayurvedic
and Nutraceuticals
e-businesses are required to comply with Indian laws to operate
legally. Health,
food and medicine related legal compliances in India have
become really stringent. A good
compilation of food, health, cosmetics, drugs, medicines
and nutraceutical laws, rules and regulations in India has been
provided by New Delhi based law firm Perry4Law.

However, online pharmacies in India are not at all
complying with the legal
requirements pertaining to their operation in India.
Rather they are actively violating
the laws of India in this regard. Illegal and unregulated online sale
of prescribed medicines in India is still happening despite the
threat of the Directorate of Drugs Control of India to punish
such illegal pharmacies.

Recently, United States shut
down 1677 illegal online pharmacies websites that were not
in compliance with US laws. Illegal online pharmacies are also on hit
list of Google
and federal authorities of US. Even in India some
developments have taken place in the direction of curbing illegal
online pharmacies. The Maharashtra FDA has approached
DCGI for regulating illegal online pharmacies operating in India.
Similarly, the Hyderabad drug authorities are also keen on regulating
illegal sale of drugs through online mechanism.

Although these are good developments yet they are
too insignificant to make any potential impact upon the flourishing
illegal online pharmacy industry of India. The websites pertaining to
Ayurvedic and Nutraceuticals have further complicated the scenario.
It is high time for Indian government to take strict penal action
against illegal online pharmacy, Ayurveda and Nutraceutical websites
as soon as possible.